22: OCR Memory - reconstructive memory

What kind of mental framework is the theory of reconstructive memory based on?

Incorporating new information into an existing schema is called what?

• accommodation

• assimilation

• learning

• recalling

Changing or starting a new schema in response to new information is called what?

• accommodation

• assimilation

• learning

• recalling

Schemas are formed as a result of what?

• confabulation

• distortion

• expectation

• experience

Answer explanation

Our memories of old experiences help to form our schemas of the world.

Schemas drive _______ - which can cause us to mis-remember things

• confabulation

• distortion

• expectations

• experience

Answer explanation

We sometimes 'remember' what we had expected to happen, not what did happen

What is it called when we rely on past memories to 'fill in gaps' in our memories with details that aren't accurate, so that they make more sense?

What is it called when memories are affected by things we have seen or heard from others?

• confabulation

• distortion

• expectation

• experience

Knowledge of reconstructive memory is useful in real life because...(tick all that apply)

• it helps us understand how memory is stored in the brain

• it helps courts understand the weaknesses of eyewitness testimony

• it helps us understand how memory is affected by brain damage

• it helps police officers avoid using leading questions

There are different ideas to explain how memory works, such as...

• memory works like a computer, we encode, store and then retrieve information intact

• memory is affected by our personality

• the ability to remember is fixed from birth

• having a growth mindset can improve memory

Answer explanation

Growth mindset may help indirectly, but only because it encourages people to practice (rehearse) information, improving accuracy of recall

The theory of reconstructive memory is strongly supported by the research of:

• Bartlett

• Loftus

• Piaget

• Wilson

Answer explanation

Loftus and her false memory studies. Bartlett's War of the Ghost study is only weak evidence because it was unscientific and badly controlled.